1886 1d carmine line-perforated (one pin missing at lower right) cancelled with a thin black wavy ink line ~ no gum and large hinge remainder otherwise fine and fresh.
Accompanied by a letter from Sir John Marriott, Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, written on 'Buckingham Palace' headed paper that reads in part:
'The Tonga 1d returned herewith is matched by a similarly centered single in the Collection, which Bacon described as a Specimen stamp.'
Ex Martin Baxendale.